Chiefs UDFA Spotlight: Middle Tennessee LB Darius Harris

Darius Harris was a highly productive player throughout four seasons at Middle Tennessee. He burst onto the scene as a freshman earning a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman team. As a redshirt Junior Harris earned the MVP award in the Camellia Bowl when the Blue Raiders faced off against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. During his senior campaign, Harris earned first-team All-C-USA honors for his performance.

Harris sports the versatility to play at each of the different linebacker spots in the Chiefs’ new 4-3 defensive scheme, with strong production in each facet of the game. During the pre-draft process, Harris emerged as a standout performer during the NFLPA collegiate bowl with 10 total tackles. The biggest questions about Harris coming out had to do with his play speed and his ability to take on blockers in the NFL.

Stats:

2015: 11 games, 44 total tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one interception returned for a touchdown and one pass defended.

Pro Day Results:

Highlights:

Fit with the Chiefs:

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t draft a linebacker, despite it being one their weakest position groups during the previous season. That opens up a possibility that some of the undrafted free agent linebackers they brought in could make the team in some capacity.

Harris has a good shot at being that linebacker, but he’s got some challenges ahead of him. First of all, he is still in the process of transforming his body for the NFL game. Middle Tennessee can’t feed these kids the same way an SEC school can, where their body is closer to NFL ready. Check out this chart comparing linebackers from early in the 2019 pre-draft process:

Harris was noticeably lighter than a lot of the other linebackers in the draft class. I was told that Harris would be above 230 pounds by his pro day, and as it turns out he was closer to 240 pounds. He’s still working on molding his body into NFL form, but Brett Veach already believes in the ability he’s shown on field.

“He can be a guy that doesn’t just makes the roster but starts one day,” Veach said of Harris following the draft. “…Being that we didn’t draft any linebackers, we were certainly aggressive. If you go back to this Harris kid, this was a kid that if he didn’t have the shoulder issue, he gets drafted. We knew that and there was a lot of competition for him.”

Veach added that the shoulder issue wouldn’t be a problem long term, but that they weren’t sure when he’d be ready to play. He could be ready ahead of training camp, during training camp, or shortly after. As of the second group of OTAs, Harris was still not participating in practice.

Harris might need to take a redshirt season like they plan to do with Tim Ward, but it sounds like he’s a guy who could stick around in Kansas City. A redshirt season could allow Harris to have some time in an NFL training regimen, and it could potentially do wonders for his body.